The best way to get feedback from staffing customers is by surveying them, right?
Nope.
Customer feedback surveys aren’t always ideal.
While feedback surveys are helpful (I’ve written about the importance and usage of surveys multiple times), over-relying on them can cause you to miss out on critical insights and opportunities.
So, what IS your secret feedback weapon?
It’s your people.
Everyone in your company, from your receptionist and recruiters to account managers and accounting staff, can be an amazing source of timely, detailed and actionable feedback from employers and job seekers. In fact, nearly every conversation a team member has with a customer includes some type of feedback. For example, each day, customers share with your team:
- problems they’re trying to solve
- insights about what it’s like to work with your firm
- successes you’ve helped them achieve
- what they’d like your agency to do for them
- questions about your services and solutions
All of that feedback contains rich information your staffing firm can use to:
- fix small problems before they escalate into larger ones
- identify and capitalize on new opportunities
- institute service recovery, when warranted
- capture testimonials, reviews and even case studies
…but only if your employees are properly trained. Too often, I see staffing owners miss out on great feedback because they assume employees know how to spot and collect it.
So, are your employees properly trained to capture great feedback?
Here are four things you can do to pave the way for employees – and help them capture the high-quality customer insights you need:
- Regularly communicate your customer service vision. Make sure everyone on your staff understands what your company stands for when it comes to service.
- Train employees to ask the right questions. The people who regularly speak to customers should be trained to ask basic satisfaction questions – daily. If they uncover potential problems or business opportunities, have them escalate the issue to the appropriate person. And if they hear a great comment from a satisfied client, train them to ask for permission to use the feedback in your marketing materials (i.e., a testimonial or case study).
- Train employees on active listening techniques. Often, customers provide only subtle cues about what’s really going on with them. Staffing employees must know what signals to look for, and then use the techniques described in this post to get the meaningful feedback you need.
- Act on the feedback they share with you. Make sure you have a process in place for reviewing and acting on the feedback your team collects. Then close the loop by telling your customers what you’re doing.
Taking these steps will create a virtuous cycle that ignites your team’s passion for delivering shareworthy service, truly elevates your service culture and provides a sustainable competitive advantage.
